8/5/2023
Hunt The Front Super Dirt Series
Marlar Dominates Duck River for $20,000 Deep Fried 75 Victory
WHEEL, Tenn. (August 5) — Making the most of a last-minute decision to enter Saturday’s Deep Fried 75 at Duck River Raceway Park, Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., dominated the night’s 75-lap Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series main event, leading every lap on his way to a $20,000 victory.
Marlar, who had originally planned to race elsewhere on Saturday before weather forecasts and other factors led him head to Duck River, started the night by setting fast time in the second of the night’s two qualifying groups, then led every lap of his heat race. He later drew the No. 1 position in the Jerico Performance Transmissions and Products Redraw, giving him a front-row starting spot alongside HTF series regular Trey Mills while Jadon Frame and Joseph Joiner paired up in row two.
In the main event, Marlar wasted no time establishing his Delk Equipment Sales No. 157 machine as the car to beat. He grabbed the lead from the drop of the green flag and never looked back on his way to leading every lap virtually unchallenged.
Marlar took the checkers 2.896 seconds ahead of seventh-starting Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., who came out on top of a back-and-forth battle with Frame of Winchester, Tenn., to earn the runner-up finish. Frame took third to land on the podium in his home track’s biggest race. Joiner of Milton, Fla., and Mills of St. Augustine, Fla., rounded out the top five.
Series points leader Wil Herrington of Hawkinsville, Ga., finished eighth, two spots behind his closest challenger, Josh Putnam of Florence, Ala.
The race was slowed by five cautions with the most notable incident occurring on lap one when four cars piled up in turn four, including former Deep Fried 75 winner Sam Seawright.
Points leader Wil Herrington maintained his points lead with an eighth-place finish, two spots behind his closest title challenger, Josh Putnam of Florence, Ala. All of the tour’s top-five points drivers entering the event logged top-10 finishes with Joiner leading the way in fourth.
The Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series takes the upcoming weekend off before kicking off three straight weekends of racing with a $10,000-to-win event Saturday, Aug. 19 at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, Ala.
Full results from the weekend are available at www.HTFSeries.com/schedules/event/465729
The series point standings can be found at https://www.htfseries.com/standings
Watch the extended highlights from the event at www.Youtube.com/watch?v=D5UKg8DaBXs
Article Credit: Simple Moments Photography
Submitted By: Jack Cofer
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